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Ankhor Wat and Cambodia
Tuesday, Apr 27, 2010 10:24PM / Standard Entry
A few things about Cambodia in April:1. It's dang hot, real dang hot, but nice and dry (which I love)2. dusty. did I mention dry? as in bone dry?3. Cambodians are quite friendly people (once you get past the tuk tuks who are always hollering at you, but don't pester)4. The food is not as diverse or tasty as something like Thai or Vietnamese, but you gotta try it.5. The Cambodians are a truly resilient people, consider how the Khmer Rouge's bloody, insane reign ended relatively recently. They are to be admired for their endurance, and their hunger for a better life, at rejuvenating their country, at learning about the outside world after being denied for so long.6. Unfortunately, pedophilia remains a problem (My roommate had the distasteful experience of discovering a child pornography magazine in the room when he first checked in).7. There are 2 domestic beers: Anchor and Anchor. One is pronounced An-kor, one is An-ch-or. go figure.8. My absolute favorite part of the trip was being able to ride a bicycle all day around the temple complex. The Tourism Ministry has done a great job of making the place (Siem Reap and the temple complex-park) tourist-friendly, safe, inviting, clean, and easy to get around. It was such a joy to ride around my beater bike for hours and hours at that slow pace where you can really take in the scenery, wave to or chat with locals, and smell/breathe in the place.
I couldn't believe they have one of my favorite cheese: Laughing Cow or Con Bo Cuoi!!
Fish Market.... with fish! (Phnom Penh)
Royal Palace Gate (Phnom Penh)
Getting to Ankor Thom for the first sunset... radically steep, long steps.
Ankor Wat pre-dawn (you can still make out the moon)
Ankor Wat (pre-dawn) by the moats
Dawn! The sun cometh!
The famous apsaras! handmaidens of the royal court.
The famous 4-faced Buddha temples (using the king's face as template naturally)
Terrace of the Elephants
lots of bodhisatvas.
Apsara in bas-relief (?)
Beautiful atop the ...erm... top.. of the temple... quite steep.
One of the most fascinating temple sites - Ta Prohm - where trees merge with rock. truly a scene out of Indiana Jones.
Magnificent tree... and the fate of all cities.
an Apsara performance in Siep Reap (bar street)
Sprinkling the flowers.
On a riverboat going down the Tonle Sap (notice how low the water levels are). We had to hug the center at all times.Share 
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Happy New Year and the iPod
Tuesday, Jan 5, 2010 10:10AM / Standard Entry
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The invisible man
Wednesday, Dec 9, 2009 11:12AM / Standard Entry
Supposedly just paint, no photoshop:
http://cavemancircus.com/2009/10/02/liu-bolin-the-invisible-man/
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Airbender controversy - To cast or not to cast Asian-Americans
Monday, Dec 7, 2009 12:29PM / Standard Entry
Apparently, on the Nick channel, there's been a cartoon for 3 seasons that featured asian protagonist heroes in an asian-like world of magic/kung fu. Since I don't watch Nick, this is news to me.
But then recently, in the theatre, I saw a trailer of the Last Airbender that Paramount is producing (a live-action movie as opposed to a cartoon). And then I happened to come across some article about the casting of the protagonists and antagonists ie good guys v. bad guys.
And even though the heroes are Asian or kids of colour, it seems that Paramount, for reasons of ignorance and its belief in the marketability or lack thereof of Asian actors in lead roles, decided to cast all white kids in the main roles while kids of colour are now only the bad guys....
http://www.racebending.com/v3/featured/the-last-airbender-primer/
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUsssUaVGmw&feature=player_embedded#
A picture is worth a thousand words (derived btw from a word is worth a thousand goldpieces, a Chinese idiom)
wow. reminds me of Dragonball movie where the kid is white too....
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Obsession?
Monday, Dec 7, 2009 11:25AM / Standard Entry
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